Falling Fast
by Woozlesintheworld
Summary: The perfect troublemaker with an absent parent meets his match with the spunky princess of Rosewood high with the perfect friends and parents. Can they destroy each other's walls or will this quirky duo's worlds come crashing down? {Not exactly AU, but strays from plot. Rated T for now but may become M later. Some Spaleb, emison, and ezria, but mostly haleb}
1. Chapter 1

_What is it I'm feeling, cause I can't let it go, If seeing is believing, then I already know, I'm falling fast..._

"Mister Rivers, I hope I'm not interrupting anything," Ella Montgomery said to the boy as he slouched in his desk preoccupied with his phone.

She gave him a glaring look, he huffed and put the phone away in his pocket then muttered a sarcastic "sorry". His focus was on the clock, counting down the seconds until the dreaded class ended and he could ditch third period to get away from everything. The time moved slower than it ever had, and he decided it wasn't worth the effort so he slumped back into his chair, let out an exasperated sigh, and paid moderate attention to the class conversation.

"Yes, Miss Marin?" Ella addressed the blonde currently raising her hand.

"I'm sorry, I just don't understand why someone would do this. Romeo and Juliet risked their lives for each other when they both could've found another suitor just as worthy," Hanna Marin inquired as she flipped through the pages of the novel currently on her desk.

"Well, they-" The teacher started to explain before she was rudely interrupted.

"It's an epic love story, they loved each other so much that they were willing to die than not have one another. They overcame every obstacle thrown their way till death did they , they could've found someone else but no one could have compared to the other in their minds," Caleb intervened, "Its like... you wouldn't part with your favorite lipstick without a fight, would you?"

Hanna's jaw dropped at the audacity, the class laughed, and the bell rang, excusing them all to leave the class. Caleb quickly got up, gathered his things, then headed towards the lockers only to be stoped by a voice behind him.

"You! In the beanie!" Someone called.

He turned around only to see none other than the ever popular Hanna Marin.

"What's wrong blonde? Lose your lipstick?" He quipped, a small smile pulling at the side of his mouth.

"I don't appreciate you saying the things you did back there. You compared them to some object! I may not understand why they did what they did but I know that you were being completely disrespectful by-"

"I was just answering your question and putting it into terms you would understand."

"Terms I would understand?" The girls face clouded with anger and disgust.

"You just don't look like the kind of girl who's been through tough stuff like that."

"You don't know me or what I've been through."

"You're right blondie, I don't, but you asked a question and I answered it so you should be thanking me," His lips turned to a smug grin as he turned on his heels and walked from the girl like he didn't have a care in the world.

"I have a name! It's Hanna!" She yelled after him, stomping her foot and crossing her arms.

"I know," he called back to her as he turned the hallway corner and disappeared from her sight.

Hanna let out a huff of hot air and angrily made her way to her next class, annoyed yet strangely humbled at the boy who contradicted her. No one ever did that. After all, she was _the_ Hanna Marin, queen bee of Rosewood High School.

x-x-x

AN:

Hi guys! I hope you liked this little teaser :) So I'm was in a total haleb mood right now and this popped into my head and I have a lot of plans for this story so I cannot wait for you all to read it :) I think I'm going to make this possibly a three-shot, maybe longer depending On if you all want me to or not once I get started. I'm sorry it was so short but I wanted to write and publish something haleb-y today! Hope everyone had a great three-day weekend and I'll definitely have the next chapter (which will be much longer) up in the next couple days, I'm very excited to take y'all on this rollercoaster with me :) -K


	2. Chapter 2

_Give me a sign or a rhyme or a reason,_

 _Just something that I can believe in,_

 _I could use a love song_

"Han! Hey!" Spencer Hastings called across the hallway to one of her best friends.

The blonde spun around on her newly-purchased Gucci heels to face the girl who came rapidly towards her.

"Please please please tell me you're coming tonight," the girl begged.

Hanna laughed slightly, "Yeah, I just have to finish an essay and then I'll be there but don't tell anyone."

"That you're picking an essay over hours of partying and destroy your credibility? Never," Spencer said with a devilish grin and a giggle as she slung her arm around Hanna's shoulders while they walked down the hall together.

"So, text me when you're on your way and we can meet up?"

"Sounds good," Hanna smiled, waving Spencer off when she disappeared to talk to her biology teacher.

She strolled over to her locker, only to find that someone had moved into the locker next to hers. Great. She tossed her books into the metal box, and checked her lipstick in the mirror, startled by a deep voice next to her.

"So, big party tonight huh," Caleb commenting, leaning one arm against the lockers after pulling his bag from the newly occupied locker next to Hanna.

The blonde rolled her eyes and closed her locker door, coming into eye contact with the boy.

"I assume you'll be there right? After all, you have a reputation around here Miss Queen Bee."

She scoffed, "We'll see. Why? Are you going too? Nothing better to do on a Friday night than hang out with a bunch of drunk, horny teenagers?"

"We'll see," he mimicked, the infamous smirk crawling onto his face as he attempted to hide a smile.

She rolled her eyes and walked away with a small feeling of anticipation lingering in her mind to see the loner boy at an actual social event.

x-x-x

Hanna huffed in annoyance as she threw yet another outfit onto her bed. She stared at her closet for what seemed like hours, coming up with no good ideas.

"Yuck... no... wore you last week..." she mumbled, rummaging through the mess of clothes on her bed until she came across a white lace crop top with a float, navy blue skirt and a woven belt to match a pair of wedges hidden deep in her closet. Smiling in contentment, she smoothed out one last wrinkle on her skirt then headed downstairs.

"I'll be back!" Hanna yelled as she walked through the front door and out to her car where she texted Spencer that she was on her way.

She sat in her car for about a minute debating whether or not the quarter-full tank of gas was worthy enough to drive what would be a ten minute walk, maybe fifteen in those heels. Finally coming to an answer, she gracefully got out of the car and walked to Aria Montgomery's house.

"Hanna! You're here!" A slightly tipsy Aria threw her arms around her best friend.

The blonde girl laughed, "And you've already started the fun without me," she motioned to the red solo cup in the girls hand.

Aria stopped to think about the comment, momentarily confused, before losing her train of thought and grabbing Hanna's hand.

"I want you to meet someone," the brunette dragged Hanna through the massive crowd, "His name is Will and he's in my photography class."

"Aria, I really don't-"

"Hey Will! This is Hanna, my best friend in the whole wide world. Han, that's Will," she smiled widely at the two before someone else caught her eye and she ran off to go chat.

"Hey," the boy in front of her smiled shyly.

She studied his features: tall, lean, dark green eyes to compliment his chestnut hair, and a hint of dimples when he smiled.

"Hi," she said quietly, glancing down at the ground and subconsciously fixing her outfit.

It felt like minutes had passed between the two in awkward silence.

"I'm sorry about Aria, she doesn't usually do this," Hanna laughed a little.

He laughed as well, "It's okay, I'm glad she did. I've seen you around school... I've just been to nervous to talk to you."

She smiled and looked up at him, "Do you want to go get a drink?"

"I'd love to."

Three beers later, Hanna was starting to warm up to the brunette next to her. She had found out that he was the kicker for the football team, was a major photography nerd like Aria, and he lived with his mom, dad, and two younger siblings.

"Wow, a brother and a sister... I only have one step sister and I can hardly stand her," she laughed.

"Yeah," he laughed a little, "They keep me on my feet, but they have also trained me well."

"I can tell, they did a good job."

"Hey, do you wanna dance? I love this song," he stood up and held his hand out for her.

Hanna smiled and nodded, gently took his hand and walked out into the middle of the room. Ed Sheeran's "Autumn Leaves" played in the background as the two slowly started to dance. Hanna rested her head on Will's chest while they moved back and forth ever so carefully. They both smiled, and Hanna couldn't help but feel a pair of eyes on her. She looked behind her to see Caleb leaned up against the wall. He raised his cup at her, an eyebrow quirked up along with it. She rolled her eyes and turned back to Will and let the song drone on. The next few songs were the basic pop songs she heard on the radio every morning on her way to school, but none the less she danced her heart out. She danced until her phone went off, telling her she had to leave now or she would be late for curfew.

"I have to go!" She yelled to Will over the thudding music.

"Okay! Do you need a ride?"

"No! I'll walk!"

"It's too late for that, it's dangerous!"

"I'm okay, it's short!"

"Are you sure?!" He pulled her outside so they could stop yelling to each other.

"I'll be okay," she smiled, "I better go, I'll be late."

"Okay, well I'll call you later. I had a lot of fun tonight," he smiled, shoving his hands into his pocket to allow him some form of warmth in the forty degree weather.

She looked up at him, reached up and pulled him down, finally connecting their lips. His arms went around her waist, pulling her closer and closing any distance between them. Their kiss was delicate, yet messy, and both tasted very much like alcohol.

She stepped back, blushing, "Bye."

"Bye," he smiled.

And with that, they left each other.

"That was quite the party," A figure commented, stepping out beside Hanna.

"Jesus!" She put a hand to her chest, "God, Caleb, you scared me!"

Caleb laughed, "Sorry."

"What are you doing here anyways?"

"I saw you walking and I figured I'd join. It's much too dangerous for you to be alone, she rolled her eyes at that, "Plus I live down here."

"Right, of course you do."

"So... Saw you and Will together."

"And?"

"It's a bit cliche don't you think? The whole popular girl dating the football player."

"Whatever. It was just a party, it doesn't mean anything."

Caleb scoffed, "Alright, whatever you say blondie."

She sped up her walking, her shoes dangling in her hand as she tried to get away from the boy following her. He sped up to, no matter how fast she went he was always right beside her like an annoying fly that wouldn't go away.

"Shit!" She cursed, picking up her left foot and dropping her heels.

"What happened?" Caleb looked over at her, his brows furrowed and eyes locked on her.

"I think I just stepped on a bee," she grumbled, holding her foot.

"Here," he lead her to the bench a few steps in front of them after collecting her shoes up.

Hanna sat down on the bench, watching Caleb who pulled out his phone and turned on the flashlight to look at her foot.

"Yeah, it was a bee, hold on," he gave her his phone to hold as he rummaged around in his jean pocket and pulled out a tiny pair of tweezers.

"Why the hell do you have those?" She asked, half confused and half mockingly as different scenarios played in her head.

"You never know when you're going to need to break something open," he mumbled, taking back his phone and carefully removing the stinger from the ball of her toe.

"Ow!"

"Sorry... it's um, it's out."

"Thanks."

He handed her her shoes to put back on which she reluctantly did. They walked together in silence, Hanna hobbling in pain and Caleb catching her every once and a while when she almost fell over.

"This is me," she said, stopping at the driveway of her house.

"Looks like it," he replied, his eyes showing a hint of sadness that she couldn't see in the darkness.

"I guess I'll, uh, see you tomorrow. Thanks for this." She mumbled and quickly walked inside.

Caleb watched the girl go, standing there to think for a minute, mentally cursing himself. He sighed and continued back to his boring little house, thinking about the blonde and the other brunette she had been with earlier.

Hi guys! So I don't know when I'll be updating this, or any of my other stories honestly. I'm kinda going through a slump and have been for a while and if I force myself to write it won't be as good as you all deserve so I'm trying to motivate myself but I can't earnestly say that I'll update anytime soon. I will complete everything I have started. All of your reviews help me so much, they're the main reason I continue to write, that, haleb cuteness, and people on Twitter give me many ideas, so please please review and I hope everyone is having a wonderful day. Happy New Years :) -K


	3. Chapter 3

Anyone can tell you you're pretty, and you get that all the time, I know you do, but your beauty is deeper than the makeup and I wanna show you what I see tonight

Hanna sat motionless in bed the next morning, deep in a web of cyber stalking Caleb Rivers. He had basically no social media and the few traces of him that she had been able to find were vague and of no use to her, until she stumbled across an article written about three years prior. "Tragedy Strikes Rivers" left her heartbroken, learning of the loss of Caleb's mother who had taken her own life. That article lead to another, and another, all seeming to paint a worse and worse picture of Caleb, the gentleman who walked her home some nights before who was apparently one of the worst trouble makers that town had ever known. Four times arrested, twice kicked out of school, and a one week stay at Radley Sanitarium after he had tried to commit suicide.

"Wow," Hanna sighed under her breath, slowly closing her laptop.

At that point, the blonde was so caught up in her thoughts about Caleb that she hadn't heard her phone ringing. Pulled from her thoughts on the second ring, Hanna looked at her sparkly pink bedazzled phone to see an anonymous number calling her.

"Hello?" She grumbled out, sounding half distracted.

"Hanna?" The other voice sounded.

"Yeah? Who is this?"

"It's Will. We met at Arias party the other night. I got your number from her."

"Oh, right, hi!"

He laughed, hearing her mind finally snap into the conversation instead of drifting, "So, I'm having a small get together at my house later on, I was wondering if you'd um... if you'd like to come?"

"Sure, sounds like fun," the blush on her face becoming more and more evident.

"Awesome, I'll send you the info."

"Cool"

"Cool"

A dead silence fell between them.

"I had a really great time with you the other night, I'm glad Aria introduced us," Will softly said, breaking the tension between the two.

"Me too," she smiled, "How exactly do you guys know each other?"

And with that, their conversation sparked. The next two hours were full of laughing and talking, and more laughing, and more talking. Hanna surprisingly couldn't wait to see him later.

x-x-x

"Hanna! Hey, come in!" Will smiled as he opened the door to his family's cabin.

She gave a polite smile back, and pulled out a bottle of tequila from her purse, "For you, incase tonight needs a boost."

He laughed, guiding her over to the living room. His cabin looked very familiar.. like the cabin her dad used to own when he and her mom were still together. Now her step-dad Ted doesn't have anything but the church, and hardly that. Her light blue eyes scanned the room, finding new people walking in including Aria and Toby.

"Han! What are you doing here?" Aria wondered, not used to seeing her friend outside of being with her, emily, and Spencer.

"Will invited me, we really hit it off, you're a great match maker. Especially drunk."

They both laughed, "Well I knew he'd like you sober so.. and I've totally seen him eyeing you in the hallways. He's just such a wimp."

"I am not, I was just waiting for the right time," Will interjected, placing three boxes of pizza down along with the tequila Hanna had brought.

Aria gave Hanna a knowing glance and the two shared a laugh, eliciting an eye roll from Will.

Hanna gave him a quick peck on the cheek, "I think it's cute."

Will put an arm around her waist to hold her body against him, "And I think you're cute," he smiled and leaned in to kiss her.

"Ooookay that's enough, let's party," Aria broke the two apart, not missing the furious blush on Hanna's face as she tried to hide her head on Wills chest.

After Hanna had been introduced to the rest of Wills friends, Marty, Greg, and Sawyer, the group started their games. They were all the classic childhood games, with an alcoholic twist of course. Their first game, Candyland, required whoever landed on a red square to do a shot. And the games got worse from there. Eventually they ended up with strip poker, and Hanna was winning. If you count winning the least amount of clothing.

"Take it off, take it off, take it off," the group cheered as Hanna removed her shirt to be left in only one sock, undies, and her bralette.

She huffed in annoyance as the others all has at least half of their clothes on, "Can we just say I lose? Please?"

"Yeah, I don't think I want to see anymore of Hanna like this," Toby chimed in, not wanting to see his girlfriends best friend half naked.

The group agreed that Hanna had officially lost, and the winner, surprisingly, was Will who had everything but one sock on. After this the group called it a night, most of them too drunk to do much else but stumble home, while Hanna stayed afterwards to help clean up after redressing herself.

"You know, it's not fair that I was like half naked there and you only took off a sock. I usually don't strip on my first date," the girl said as she cleared the pizza boxes.

"Hmm, first date?" Will paused from picking up cups to look at her.

She panicked, "I-I mean, It wasn't really, there were so many people, a-and-"

"Relax," the boy laughed, "I think it was a great first date. And you looked amazing," he said, walking closer to her.

She put her hands around his neck, "Still, unfair. And so many people," she pouted.

"Well I promise that next time," he leaned in ever so slightly, "it will be," a little more, "just the two of us."

Their lips connected, butterflies flew in Hanna's stomach as the kiss grew deeper. She pushed him backwards, toppling into the couch and adjusting so she layer on top of him without breaking their kiss. His hands wandered up and down her back and settled on her waist while hers ran over his chest. The football player body with the heart of a softie, could he be any better? Their kiss continued in perfect synchrony, becoming more and more passionate by the second. Her legs went around his waist, straddling him while both of their hands slipped under each others shits just below the hems. As things were about to become more, Hanna's phone rang. Her moms ringtone.

"Shit," she cursed, sitting up and answering the phone out of breath.

"Yeah, no, I'm at a friends house, mom chill. Okay. Okay! Bye." She tossed her phone down on the couch, huffing in anger.

"Everything okay?" Will asked, sitting up and letting her rearrange herself so she was sitting sideways in his lap.

"Yeah, just my idiot mom wondering where I am, she wants me home for dinner."

"Do you want me to drive you home?" His hand rubbed small circles on her back.

She looked up at him with her best puppy dog eyes, "But I wanna stayyy," she protested.

He laughed, nudging her to get up, "You have to go, I don't want your mom thinking we were doing something we shouldn't have."

"Well, we almost did," she smirked.

"And I usually don't move that fast," he laughed, then changed to a lighter yet serious tone, "but I really like you, and I need your parents to like me too. Which means.."

"Yeah yeah, I need to go," she unwillingly stood up, "My car's out front. I'll call you later though."

He smiled and nodded, walking her to the door.

She turned back one last time, "For The record, I usually don't move that fast either, that was amazing though, and I kinda like you too."

"Good to know," he chuckled, "now go," and gently pushed her away.

She shuffled over to her car, reluctantly driving away, leaving the perfect boy for a messed-up-family dinner.

x-x-x

Hey guys! I'm starting to write more again and I know this didn't have any Caleb in it but Part 2 will! And I promise this time it will come so soon, probably by Wednesday at the latest :) Again, in really sorry for being inactive on my stories but I had lost interest and I'm slowly regaining it and as I write I'll publish in small bits and add them together once I finish. A friend told me she would rather read small portions and have faster updates so I think that would be best for now. I hope you guys liked this and please review! You're reviews are what gave me motivation to get my interest back 3 have a great day!

-K


	4. Chapter 4

_I'm staring at my feet, my cheeks are turning red, I'm searching for the words_

 _Inside my head, feeling nervous, trying_

 _to be so perfect_

As Hanna pulled into her driveway, lost in a daze of thoughts from the last hour, she barely noticed the other brunette sitting there. Waiting.

She got out of the car and noticed the boy, "So now that you know where I live, you're stalking me?"

Caleb smirked, he could do witty banter, "So what if I am? What are you gonna do about it?"

"Well, given your history, you wouldn't want me to do anything. Three strikes and you're out, in jail that is, right?" She wasn't in the mood.

Things suddenly got tense between them, "How do you know about that?"

"You're not the only one who owns a laptop and knows how to use google," she pushed past him and unlocked her door, "What do you want Caleb?"

He paused, biting his lip and preparing himself for what he was about to ask, "I need your help."

"Whatever it is, I highly doubt it."

"Hanna, please. I did help you the other night. Please?"

She sighed, opening her front door and walking in, signaling for him to follow, "What is it?"

"I don't know how to say this so I'm just gonna say it, I need someone to come with me to visit my dad in jail."

"What?! You're insane."

"Listen, please, just hear me out. He was arrested and sentenced about a year ago, and now that they've updated their information system, they won't let me see him without someone else present because of my record. My moms... not around, and I don't have many reliable people I can ask so you're my only hope."

"Why do you need to see him so badly anyway?" She asked, placing two glasses of water down and sitting on the couch as he did the same.

"I've always been fine on my own, my dad never did much since my mom passed away, but now, things are starting to get trickier. Two months ago, someone reported my business after they said I jiped them on their upgrade so now people are watching me closely and I haven't made a lot since. My dad is the only one who can access our bank account and other things so I basically just need the money," he stared down at his shoes,

Hanna noticed the embarrassed blush on his face from the embarrassment, and if she was being honest, it was kind of cute.

"Okay. I'll do it," she smiled, "but.."

"But? I'll do anything, anything."

"I need you to help me with my math...and history... and chemistry. I'm not doing too well and my parents won't let me go to New York if I don't get at least a B. And don't try telling me you're not that good, I've seen your tests and I know what you can do."

Caleb took that moment to put his walls back up, "You don't know the half of it, but I can show you upstairs."

"Shut up, this is serious," she lightly smacked his arm, "You tutor me and I'll go with you whenever you need."

They both agreed on the deal, and Hanna insisted they start tutoring that day as they had a big geometry test the next day. Caleb spent the next three hours trying to teach Hanna how to do a proof, each attempt becoming more infuriating than the next.

"I told you I needed help, I'm not good at this!" She huffed, leaning back in her chair with her arms folded.

"One more time, if you don't get it then I owe you pizza," he reasoned, no one could resist pizza.

She smiled, "Okay."

He went through the steps one more time, but this time he did it in her terms. Fashion terms. And it clicked almost immediately.

"Oh my god! You're a miracle worker, I get it," she laughed, finishing the entirety of her math homework in an instant and understanding it completely.

He smiled, "Glad I could help. Now, about visiting my dad..."

"Oh right, of course, we can go tomorrow."

"Well, need to go today. My rent is due tomorrow and I'm a little behind..."

"Alright. My mom gets home soon so we need to go like, now, otherwise she'll ask a ton of questions that neither one of us is going to want to answer."

"Alright," he packed up his stuff, "Let's go."

Hanna grabbed her bag, threw in her phone and wallet, then went outside to meet Caleb. She climbed into the passenger's seat of his X-terra, and automatically turned the radio to her favorite station, Country 101.

"Really? Country?" Caleb laughed.

"What? I like it. And if I'm going to be stuck in here for a while, I need my Thomas Rhett."

He shook his head laughing, "Just never would've pegged you a country girl."

"Well, there's a lot you don't know about me."

He laughed once again and started on the way to New York County Jail, a solid two and a half hour drive.

Am hour passed, Hanna was in and out of sleep, and as it started to get later, Caleb started to feel the effects as well. He decided that they needed some food and caffeine. He searched up the nearest Starbucks and they were parked in the lot ten minutes later. Caleb went in and ordered for both himself and Hanna, getting her a mocha macchiato with vanilla, himself a plain iced coffee, and two bagels for the road.

"Han," he gently shook her to wake her up.

Small mumbles came from the blonde as she rubbed her eyes and yawned, "What? Are we there?"

"No, we still have a ways to go, but I got us some coffee and food."

"But I only drink-" she paused as he handed her her drink, "How did you know this is what I get?"

He started the car back up and headed back onto the road, "You are late for first period like once a week because you stopped for coffee, how could I not notice?"

She laughed, "Well, thank you."

He smiled at her in response, and continued to drive along the seemingly endless highway. As the trip got longer, Hanna and Caleb started to talk more and more, mostly about Hanna because she didn't want to bring anything upsetting up and he didn't want to talk much about himself. Caleb learned that it was true, Hanna really did live for school gossip. He learned all about Emma's affair with David at homecoming, and how Alexis got a little too drunk at the last football game and got suspended which is why no one has seen her for the past two weeks, but mostly about her new..friend, Will. She couldn't stop gushing about him, and it was starting to irritate Caleb for some reason unbeknownst to him. He shrugged it off to the long hours and they finally pulled up to New York County Jail visitors lot. Caleb and the blonde hurriedly went inside as they realized the last visitation for the day ended in thirty minutes, and Caleb couldn't miss his dad. They went through all the paperwork needed, got through security with a rather intrusive body check according to Hanna, and finally sat down with Caleb's dad.

"Caleb! You're back, it's been too long," his father gushed, then spotted Hanna, "And who is the pretty girl you brought? Finally get a girlfriend?"

They both stumbled to answer at the same time: "No, no, we're not, I'm not, no"

"Dad, this is Hanna, she's a friend of mine and only a friend. She has someone else in her life, not that you need to know. But she's going to be with me from now on."

"Nice to meet you Hanna, I'm Jaimie," he smiled at Hanna and nodded his head as a 'welcome' since they could not touch.

"Dad, listen, I need the information to our bank account. I'm short on this months rent and I have no other way."

"Okay, well everything you need to know is in my office desk in a red notebook. It has all the account information and passwords. And the new Netflix subscription," he smirked.

Hanna could see where Caleb got his annoying smirk from.

"Okay, thank you," he moved to get up when he felt a hand on his arm pull him back down.

"Caleb," Hanna whispered, "Aren't you going to talk to your dad more?"

"No, I got what I needed and that's all," Caleb replied, standing up and motioning for her to do the same.

"Son, it was so nice to see you again. You really do need to come visit more. I've told all my friends about you, they've all been dying to meet you," Jaimie smiled and stood up as well, "And Hanna, it was nice to meet you, I look forward to seeing you two again."

Hanna's heart fluttered, "It was nice to meet you too ."

"Please, call me Jaimie."

Hanna nodded and smiled.

"Bye dad."

As they turned to leave, Hanna could see Jaimie's face drop as Caleb didn't want to stay any longer to talk, and she wanted to know why.

"Caleb, you should've stayed. He missed you!" Hanna almost yelled at him as they walked back towards the parking lot.

"Hanna just leave it alone," he said, a hit of anger underlying his tone.

"Caleb! He was so happy to see you and all you talked about was money!"

"Because that wasn't him in there! He's not like that! He was being nice because you were there and because he's sober but the second he gets his hands on any sort of drug or alcohol he won't be nearly the same person. He hasn't been there for me, ever, so why should I start being there for him now?!"

She was taken back by his words, they stung in two ways. One, because he yelled at her, and two, because the words were painful to hear. Hanna didn't have a great childhood with her parents divorce and her moms remarriage, but nothing sounded as bad as Caleb's right now.

"So please just leave it alone," he sighed and unlocked the car, the both of them getting in.

"I'm sorry... I didn't know," she tried to make thing better but she could tell he was obviously upset.

He didn't reply, but instead turned on the car and started to drive away. Hanna sensed he was upset, and she knew she shouldn't push it any further, but part of her needed to ask questions. That part of her won.

"Caleb? What was your childhood like?" She asked quietly, afraid to talk too loud and upset him again somehow.

"I really don't want to talk about it Hanna," his voice was cold, stern, and warning.

"I just want to know, you know all about me."

"Yeah, and apparently so do you because you've looked online. I think that tells you how my childhood was."

She decided not to press him anymore for the entire car ride back, but it still bugged her. Once they got back to her house, Caleb walked her to the front door and as he was about to say goodbye she had something else to say.

"Caleb, I don't think what I found online was like you. There's more to you than whatever bad stuff is online," she pressed, needing to know more about him and hopefully know more about why she found the things she did.

"Well, sorry to disappoint, but there's not. I'm a screwed up hacker who's mom killer herself to get away from her family. Not to mention I tried the same thing but you already know that and look how well that turned out. I'm not a good person Hanna, I never have been."

"Well I don't believe that," she argued.

His tone became harsh, almost scary, "You need to. I'm no good, I never have been and I never will be and the farther you stay from me, the better."

She could feel herself clam up, realizing she shouldn't push anymore. She stared up at him, waiting for him to say something else, anything else.

"Goodbye Hanna," he sighed, turning his back towards her, walking back to his car, and she watched as she drove away.

He really was no good.

x-x-x

Wow, so thank you to everyone for all the positive reactions to my last update, I'm so glad you are still interested after my long hiatus. I will for sure be updating much sooner now! And who else loves dark, mysterious Caleb? I've started binging Riverdale and Jughead is by far m favorite, he reminds me of early S1/2 Caleb. But I hope you guys liked it and we'll get to see more of edgy and soft Caleb in the next chapter as well as maybe some conflicts with Will :) Hope you have a great day and please read and review. Registered accounts who review will get a sneak peek at next chapter! Xx

-K


	5. Chapter 5

_There's a boy, lost his way, looking for someone to play,_  
 _There's a girl in the window tears rolling down her face._

Caleb Rivers was the ultimate enigma to Hanna Marin. As Hanna thought about their little prison trip the other day, she realized just how much she really didn't know him. One minute he was the sad, brooding boy in the corner, the next he was the perfect gentleman walking Hanna home, and after that, he became clammed up and defensive.

"Okay class," Hannah was jolted from her thoughts, "now that you're all seniors, I trust you'll partner yourselves up wisely for our new project. I want you each to take a scene from any book and relate it to your lives. You will perform about one to two pages of that scene so be prepared to explain it and relate back to yourselves. You'll have all class periods this week to work on it and it will be due by the end of the month," Mrs. Montgomery said.

The entire class started to buzz as friends partnered up, but Hanna kept her head down. Sure, she could've picked anyone in that class and they would have dropped everything to be with her. But, there was someone, in particular, she wanted to work with, who just so happened to be walking towards her.

"Hey partner," the brunette said as he sunk into the desk in front of her and turned to face her.

"Who said I was your partner?" Hanna remarked, pretending to ignore him as she continued to look at her book.

"Well, I don't see you with anyone else so, guess it's me or do it all yourself."

"Fine, besides, we have more in common than most of these twats anyways."

Caleb laughed "Twats?"

She smiled, finally looking up and immediately meeting his chocolate brown eyes, "Its fun to say."

He laughed again.

"So, what book do you want to do?" She asked.

"Not sure. I don't know much about you so I don't really see how we're alike."

"Well, I guess we have to change that. I-" She started but was rudely interrupted by the bell, signaling that school was over.

She had to say something to break the silence between them as she packed her bag, "Um, you could come over and we could work on this if you wanted to?"

"Su-" he paused, "Actually, I can't. I promised my little sister I would spend the day with her."

The pair walked to their lockers, which were side by side, to collect the last of their books.

"Wait. You have a little sister?"

"Didn't find it on google?" he smiled, referencing her comment the other day.

She bit her lip and looked down, unsure what to say.

"I'm kidding. Her name is Alexandria, but I call her Lexie, and she's seven, almost eight. Um, after my mom died, my dad was supposed to take care of us, which is why you found all the articles about me and everything I've done. But, when my dad went to jail, Alex was with a friend so they didn't really know about her. Oversight of our amazing government," he closed his locker and started to walk with Hanna towards her car, "So, when she got home, we packed our bags, moved here, and since I was technically emancipated, I could get a small apartment and a job and provide. I cleaned up my act so I could take care of her, she started school again, and now we're here. No one really knows that she's with me, but once I turn eighteen in a few months, I'll be her legal guardian. So, we're laying low until then."

"Wow..." Hanna's jaw practically dropped.

Caleb took a breath, starting to walk backward out of the parking lot, "Yeah... Well, I should get going. I'll see you later?"

"Yeah... Yes... Project work..." Hanna could barely form coherent thoughts as she sunk into the driver's seat of her car.

x-x-x

"Alex?" Caleb's voice echoed off the small walls of his apartment as he set down the Chinese take-out bags on the counter.

After not getting a response, Caleb walked around the apartment trying to find the little girl. He eventually found her curled up asleep on his bed. The boy smiled to himself as he walked over and laid on the bed next to her. Alexandria instinctively moved closer to him as he put her arm around him.

"Hey," he whispered as he twirled a lock of her dark brown hair.

"Where were you?" She mumbled, turning to face the boy while her ocean blue eyes fluttered open.

"I was talking to Hanna, and then I went to get dinner. Chinese." He smiled.

"Hanna? Who's she?"

"She's my friend. We're partners on a project together. She's the one who went with me to go see dad."

"I like her," Alex smiled a little, revealing her dimples.

He laughed slightly, which made her laugh, "I do too."

Suddenly the mood in the air changed. Alex's smile disappeared as she moved closer to the boy. Caleb tightened his grip around her small body.

"Whats wrong?" He asked.

"Some of the other kids at school... They made fun of me. They said that I'm no good, that no one but you wanted me and that you only took me because you had to. and that we're poor and shouldn't be here c-cause we're not good enough."

"Lex...-"

"They said bad things about you. And mommy and daddy," she sniffled.

The boy looked over at her, "What did they tell you?"

"T-they told me all the bad things you did. Som-someone found a website and they showed it to m-me..."

"Lexie," he used his pointer finger to make the little girl look at him, "look, all of that stuff that I did, it was before I had you. That was a long time ago. I should never have done it. I was really young and we had just lost mom... I promise it will never ever happen again. Any of it."

The girls bright blue eyes clouded as she looked at her big brother.

"And what they said about you, it's not true. Mom and dad both love you, so do I. I wanted to take you, I would never go anywhere without you. You can be a pain, but you're _my_ pain and I wouldn't have it any other way" he saw her smile a little, "And we aren't poor, we just have to watch what we do sometimes."

The girl nodded.

"You know, you don't remember, but one day I came home from school and some kids had picked on me too. When I got home, you ran over to me and gave me the biggest hug that a three-year-old could give. Then, you, me, and mom all went down to the park and played for hours. We went on the swings, and the slide, and played 'I Spy' which you always won. And that day, you made me feel all better."

Alexandria smiled, "I did? I don't remember that."

Caleb nodded as he moved a piece of her hair, "Now, how about instead of school tomorrow, you and I go see a movie, get some ice cream, and have a little fun. Okay?'

"Okay," Alex smiled.

"Now," He stood up from the bed, "Let's go get some food!"

The little girl laughed as Caleb picked her up and spun her around then he took her to their kitchen.

x-x-x

Hanna took a deep breath as she threw herself down on her bed. As she stared at her ceiling, she couldn't help but think about the same brunette boy that always seemed to be on her mind. Who was Caleb Rivers? Them she heard her phone buzz with a new message. Her heart leaped, hoping it was from the boy on her mind. Nope, just Spencer:

 _Ali said she saw you talking to that Caleb guy, whats up with you two?_

She typed back a response:

 _We're partners on an English project that's all_

 _good. Aria told me that Will is really looking forward to seeing you again ;)_

 _oh, yeah. I'll text him_

Justas she wasabout to text Will to meet up, she got another text. Assuming it was Spencer, she automatically opened it.

"Shit," she muttered as Caleb's name flashed above the newly opened text.

 _Hey_

It read. Hanna panicked for a minute. She had to respond. He would know she had seen it, right?

 _Hi_

She responded.

 _What_ _are you up to?_

 _Homework :/_

She lied.

 _Wanna meet up later to work on the project? Lex is asleep so you can come over whenever. If you'd like :)_

 _Um, sure. I'll be over in 15 minutes_

 _I'll send my address_

Hanna got up and fixed her outfit, then headed off to Caleb's.

The girl sat in her car for a good five minutes before finally climbing up the apartment stairwell.

"Be cool, Hanna. Be cool," she mumbled to herself as she raised her hand to knock on the door.

Caleb opened the door before she could, catching her off guard, "I thought I heard you coming up."

"Yep," she smiled while Caleb moved aside to let her in.

"Sorry, it's a bit of a mess in here. We haven't had a lot of time to pick up," he apologized as he quickly put some toys in various bins

She laughed a little, "Trust me, I've seen way worse in my own room."

He smiled and cleared off a small table for them to work at, "Are you hungry? Thirsty?"

The blonde shook her head, "No, thank you though."

The pair sat down at the table, across from each other.

"So, um, did you think of any good books we could do?" Caleb asked.

"Not really... I'm not much of the book type." Hanna confessed, opening her notebook to give her hands something to do, "What books have you read lately?"

"Um, I just finished Fahrenheit 451, Catcher in the Rye, I'm reading Fablehaven to Lexie, and 'Romeo and Juliet'," He shrugged

Hanna nodded, "Okay um..."

"What about 'Romeo and Juliet'?" Caleb piped up.

"Yeah su- wait, what?" Hanna looked up at the boy.

"Okay, just hear me out. I know we're not star-crossed lovers or anything, but we're friends. You and I have completely different social circles. Us being friends defies some sort of social standard I'm sure. So it isn't that much of a stretch. Instead of lovers, we're simply just friends."

She smiled, "I like that, let's do it."

And so began Hanna and Caleb's journey as Romeo and Juliet, at least for the next hour until Lexie wandered out from her room.

"Caleb?" she yawned as she walked into the kitchen, suddenly noticing the stranger sitting across from her brother.

"Lex, this is Hanna. We were working on our English project together," Caleb turned to face her.

Lexie went over, clasped onto Caleb's arm, and mumbled, "Cay, I don't feel good."

The boy sighed and looked at Hanna, "I'm sorry. We can do more tomorrow after school?"

"I have cheer tryouts tomorrow, raincheck?"

Caleb smiled and nodded then bent down to pick Lexie up,

The brunette boy walked Hanna to the door, "I'll see you later."

"Goodbye Caleb, I hope Lexie feels better," she smiled and started to walk away.

Before Caleb could close the door, Lexie mumbled. "She's pretty, I like her." Which made Hanna's heart flutter as she continued to hear the two speak softly as she walked away. Uh-oh.

x-x-x

Hello!

Sorry for the long wait, my computer crashed and I lost all of my unsaved chapters for all stories. Thank you to everyone who commented on the last chapter and the new one should be up within a week or so since I'm now on spring break and have some time to spare! Some have asked my plans for this story, and I'm hoping for it to have around 15 chapters and an epilogue. Now that most of the plot has been introduced, we can get this story started! How cute is big brother Caleb! I'm starting something new, inspired by another story I'm reading currently. If you review on a logged in account, I'll send you a preview of the next chapter! So, please read and review:)

Song: Two Pieces by Demi Lavato


	6. Chapter 6

_Here comes the sun, I say it's alright_

 _Little darling it's been a long cold lonely winter_

 _xxx_

Aria angrily made her way down the hallways of Rosewood High in search of one of her blonde best friends.

"Hanna!" Aria all but yelled as she reached Hanna's locker.

"What's wrong?" Hanna asked, clueless about the situation.

"Toby told me that you've been blowing off Will to go see that Caleb guy. Is that true? Do you like Caleb?"

"I haven't been blowing him off, Caleb is my tutor and I have a really big geometry test coming up so he's been helping me study. And we're partners for an English project. Of course, I don't actually like him," Hanna closed her locker and turned away from her friend as she winced at the words coming from her mouth.

"Good. You remember how hard you worked to get to the top, you wouldn't want to end back up with loser Mona right?" Arias' voice had a hint of disgust as they walked past a classroom where they saw Mona sitting with Lucas Gottesman.

Hanna sighed, "I remember. I have to go to tryouts, I'll see you later."

In an instant, the blonde was out of the door and speed walking to the field. When she had changed into her uniform, Hanna stood in line with the other girls. She had done this every year since she had become popular, which was 10th grade. And every year, her least favorite part was the body examination to make sure they all had "cheerleader bodies", whatever the hell that meant. She always left feeling like crap about herself, making her think about her past struggles with bulimia. A shiver went through her spine just thinking about it.

"Okay, you, you, you...you, and you can all go. Thank you for coming out," Coach Westley said as she pointed to girls who would have to try again another year.

Next was the physical examination: memorizing and perfecting a routine by Monday. Coach Westley taught the remaining girls the routine, then promptly dismissed them all to go home and practice. As Hanna was packing her bag, she heard a familiar voice calling her name.

"Hey Han! Wait up!" The voice called.

The girl turned around, bags in hand, to see Will running towards her.

"Hey," he smiled, giving her a quick peck on the cheek, "Long time, no see."

"Yeah, look I'm sorry, life just got really crazy all of a sudden," She gave him a sympathetic smile.

"I get it. Are you free anytime soon? Maybe we could go catch a movie or something?"

"Yeah, actually. I'm free tonight if you want to go?"

"Sounds good, I-" Will started to say something, but was rudely interrupted by his coach's yell telling him to come back.

"I-I gotta go. Pick you up at 7," he smiled as he ran back to the middle of the field to continue football practice.

x-x-x

 _Didn't see you at school today?_

Hanna texted Caleb, wondering where he might have run off to.

 _Yeah, Promised Lexie we would do something fun. Did I miss anything good?_

 _Not really. Miss Flanders fell over her own shoe though._

 _Interesting._

Hanna stared at her phone, wondering what to say next. The conversation was already awkward enough.

 _Do you want to come over and study tonight? I need help with some math. Lexie can come over if it'll help :)_

 _Sure. Geometry test?_

 _Yep I don't get why I need to know this stuff, I'm never gonna use it_

 _You will. Lexie and I will be over around 9:30_.

Hanna saw the iMessage dots appear as he was sending another text, then went away a minute later. Guess that conversation was over. The girl sighed and looked at the clock next to her which read: 6:05 pm. Hanna sprang from her bed as she realized that her date would be there soon. Not wanting to have anything too tight on, she quickly picked out an outfit which consisted of ripped jeans with a floral embroidery from Abercrombie which paired with a white peasant blouse that had small cutouts around the waist and bottom seam. She put on light make up, swiped on eyeliner, and left her hair down except for one braid on the left side of her head. It was 6:59 when she had finished getting ready, and just as the doorbell had rung. She grabbed her little dusty pink purse and ran downstairs to meet Will.

"Hi," she smiled wide as she opened the door.

"You look..great," he smiled back while the pair walked to his car.

Will opened Hanna's door for her, then ran to the other side and got in himself. They got to the movies where they agreed to see "Love, Simon" after Hanna had begged to see it ever since Alison had told her about it. The couple split a large popcorn, Will using it as an excuse to touch her at any chance he could. Halfway through the movie, he saw Hanna shiver a little, so he put his jacket around her and gently pulled her into his side. The blonde softly smiled up at him and intertwined their hands. They sat like that through the rest of the movie, occasionally making comments to each other or stealing a quick kiss. Once the movie had ended, Hanna invited Will back to her house. Her mom and Ted were gone since it was a Friday night, and they wouldn't be back until early the Sunday morning. But she had to fix something first. She quickly sent a text to Caleb canceling their session for that night and telling him they would reschedule soon. Then, Hanna and Will went back to her house, though she felt more than a little guilty for ditching Caleb. As the night went on, that feeling went away as Will became more prevalent. The pair did a little bit of everything: movies, TV, talking, eating, games, and eventually leading to a pretty heavy makeout session.

The pair lay on Hanna's bed, Will above her as his hands grabbed her waist and hers tangled in his hair. The kiss was slow, yet lustful. He tasted like candy, innocent and almost, in a way, clean. As their kiss grew and each other's passions rose, Hanna started thinking more and found herself thinking about Caleb. The two boys were so different. Will was innocent and a complete open book, but Caleb was the damaged boy who no one knew anything about, except for her.

"Mmh, wait," she breathed out as she pulled back.

"What's wrong babe?' Will looked down at her confused, "Everything okay?"

Hanna moved so she was now sitting on the bed and the boy followed suit.

"Yeah, I just um... I just think we should take things a little slow. I know I might not have given that impression before but with both of us just getting out of relationships, I think it would be best to wait a little while. You're a great guy and I trust you but I just don't think... that... is right for us yet."

Will smiled, "I think so too. I mean, not that I don't want to but I think you're right, we should just take it one step at a time."

Hanna sighed with relief and fell back into his chest. How did she manage to get a guy this perfect? Around 2 am, the pair eventually fell asleep next to each other.

x-x-x

Around noon the next day, Hanna was mindlessly working on a new sketch of a floral shirt that she had thought of, when she got a text from Spencer telling her about a party Ali was throwing that night. She shrugged the message off, deciding she probably wouldn't go. But then she started to think of who else she might see there. So, around 9 pm, Hanna got on a new white lace trimmed camisole with a pair of red rose embroidered denim shorts and headed over to Alison's house.

When she got there, the music was already blaring and most people were already on their third or fourth drink. She looked around for someone she might recognize but decided to get a drink when she didn't see anyone. As she wandered around with the drink in her hand, she wandered through masses of people dancing and talking, yet no one seemed to notice her. They were all unfamiliar to her. She could feel her heartbeat quicken and her anxiety start to creep in, so she returned to the drink table. One drink turned into four and before she knew it she was as drunk as everyone else. Usually her tolerance was higher, but she had been trying to stay away from alcohol for the last few months. The pounding music, the flashing lights, the throbbing people all started to become more surreal and enclosing upon her. She had to get out, anywhere but here. She quickly and drunkenly made her way to the back patio of Alison's house.

"Hey there stranger," she slurred as she saw a certain dark-haired boy sitting on the stoop.

Caleb turned around, letting out a puff of smoke as he saw the girl. She came next to him and sat down with an uneasy 'plop' that almost made her fall into the boy.

"Easy blondie," he mumbled, putting his arm around her waist to stabilize her for a minute.

"Not enough people in there for you? You bored?" The boy retorted as he let out another cloud of smoke.

"More like too many." the brunette looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "I hate coming to these things. I don't feel like I'm a part of any of it. I'm insignificant."

The boy let out a short chuckle, "Welcome to the club."

Hanna turned to face him, "You have Lexie, she adores you. I have nothing, my parents are hardly around, my friends only ever invite me to parties or want to gossip, and the cheer team is just a bunch of bitches. I have no actual substance."

"You have Will."

The blonde shrugged, "I guess."

"Trouble in paradise?" Caleb looked at the girl with a genuine intrigue, despite the cocky smirk that emerged.

"Anything but. He's too perfect, everything is amazing. Too amazing."

Caleb laughed, "Too amazing?"

"Yeah. I mean I'm no good at anything, I'm mediocre in just about everything: cheer, friendship, math, schooling, all of that. And he's captain of the football team, straight A's, motivated, handsome, and all around a good guy. No one is that good."

Caleb looked down slightly as he offered her a drag, to which she gladly accepted, "I don't know, I just don't feel like I fit in with any of them, I never have. That's why everything happened last year"

Caleb looked over at her, wanting to know what had happened last year, but decided to shrug it off, "Blondie, you're smarter than you think, you cheer better than most of those girls could ever dream about, and you're sketches are amazing."

Hanna smiled small, the faint doings of alcohol boiling in her blood, "Thanks."

The two shared a small glance, the girl leaned next to him and bumped their shoulders together, "You're not so bad yourself Rivers."

Hanna stood up to go back inside when she almost tipped over, the small amount of alcohol and cigarette still in her veins throwing her off. Caleb wrapped his arm around her waist and stubbed out the last part of his cigarette, "Let's get you home."

Caleb drove the girl home, then walked her up to her doorstep.

"Caleb..."

"Yeah?"

"Will you stay with me tonight? I don't want to be alone, I can't be alone right now. Please?"

He glanced back at his car then back at the girl in front of him and paused for a minute.

"Sure."

x-x-x

Don't forget, if you leave a review with an account I'll send you a preview of the next chapter :)

Song: here comes the sun by the Beatles


	7. Chapter 7

_So you just need to breathe to feel my heart against yours now, against yours now, 'cause maybe I'm just in love when you wake me up_

XxX

Hanna groaned softly as she clutched her head and turned over in her bed.

"God, why did I do that?" She mumbled drowsy, struggling to find the strength to sit up.

As soon as she sat up, she became very aware that the clothes she was in were not the same as the night before... She huffed, looking up and noticing a figure outside her window. After taking a minute to remember the events from the night before, she realized it was Caleb. Smoking out on the small balcony she had, she smiled a little at the sight. Then she remembered her boyfriend. The one she hadn't invited to Ali's party the night before. The girl rubbed her head one more time in attempt to ease the pounding before reaching over the brunette to grab her phone.

 _Small delay, flight was canceled so we will be back Monday afternoon. Sorry honey -xo Mom_

 _Hey... I heard you went to Ali's party last night. A friend said they saw you leaving with another guy... I think we should talk. -W_

 _HANNA_

 _REALLY?! Caleb?! Of all people to cheat with you choose Caleb? Call me -Ali_

Hanna threw her phone down in frustration. She had really messed up.

"Morning blondie," Caleb turned to face her as the noise drew his attention.

"Hi," she mumbled and quickly grabbed her silk robe to put over her pajamas.

"Hope you don't mind, we got back and you started complaining about the clothes so I had to help you change.. but you did most of it," he added quickly, watching her walk over and sit in the chair next to him.

She shrugged, letting the robe slip a little while she looked out over the balcony. The two sat in silence for a while, until Caleb's last bit of cigarette vanished and he broke the ice.

"Well, I should get back," he said and started to collect his things.

"Right, Lexie's probably wondering where you are."

He sighed, "Actually she's at a friends house. She goes every once and a while, mostly after I go to a party. So, it's just me today."

Hanna looked up at the boy, "Then stay," she blurted and almost immediately regretted it, "I mean, if you want to... we never did get a chance to study. And my parents aren't coming home anytime soon."

Caleb paused for a minute before setting his things back down, "Alright fine, but you have to sort out everything with your friends and Will first. I heard your phone going off like crazy, I can only assume what they thought."

"Right, I will," the girl hastily stood back up and grabbed her phone, ready to do some damage control.

x-x-x

"Will, I told you, nothing is going on between us. Caleb took me home and that's it. He's my tutor and my friend he was just looking out for me."

"You have five million other friends you could've asked why did you ask any of them?! Listen, I don't want to be the jealous type but you've spent so much time with Caleb lately, people are starting to talk," Will shot back at Hanna, clearly upset about everything.

She sighed, "I know, I'm sorry. But he's my tutor and my partner for English. You know I need the help. I promise I'll do more with you, whatever you want to do. Okay?"

The line went silent for a moment.

"Fine. I'll see you tomorrow."

They said their goodbyes and hung up, leaving Hanna to flop back down on her bed in annoyance. Why couldn't anybody see that they were just friends?

"Alright, ready to study?"

Hanna brought her hand to her head, "Nope." But got up anyways.

x-x-x

Five hours and what felt like an eternity later, Hanna and Caleb had finished studying for the geometry test, gone over World War I for history, and practiced their modern take on "Romeo and Juliet" for English. They had decided to do the scene when Romeo and Juliet first meet at the ball, because of the first impressions and how quickly they changed for each other, which reminded Hanna and Caleb of themselves. By the time they finished, the day had dragged on to 3 pm, and both of them were starving. So, Caleb decided to make a snack while Hanna picked a movie out for them to watch.

"Shit!" Caleb cursed, following the sound of a large bang.

"Are you okay?!" Hanna ran in to her kitchen only to see Caleb standing over a pile of flour that had seemingly gotten everywhere, including on him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just dirty." He laughed a little at his mess, trying his best to brush the flour off but he still looked like a doughboy.

Hanna laughed, "You can go shower and clean up in my bathroom if you'd like, I've almost got the movie."

Caleb nodded and excused himself to go clean up. While Caleb showered upstairs, Hanna thought of the perfect movie, Mama Mia. She ransacked her cupboards to find the DVD but still couldn't find it, then remembered it was upstairs.

"Of course!" She ran to her bedroom and started looking through various drawers to get the DVD.

She had her focus buried in her closet drawer when she heard footsteps behind her.

"Oh- sorry, I thought you were downstairs," Caleb's face turned red as he walked into her room, a towel on his hips and a hand running through his wet hair.

"My b-" Hanna had finally found the movie and turned around, momentarily taken back by the boys bare body in front of her, "S-sorry. My bad."

She stood up fast, DVD in hand, and started to walk towards her door. Caleb reached over for his clothes on her bed, accidentally cutting her off. Hanna's eyes wandered over the boys body, firm and defined with tattoos trailing over it. She had known he had tattoos as she always say some peeking out of his shirt and he had on on his wrist, but she never imagined he would have this many.

"I-I'm just," Hanna stuttered out, looking straight into the boys chocolate brown eyes that were only inches away from hers.

"No... my fault..." he said slowly, not moving a muscle as his eyes became lost in hers.

The awkwardness of the moment had passed and now their breathing became faster as they both realized what was happening. Before either of them could register it, their lips were on each other. Caleb dropped his hand and moved it to her hip to hold her close to him as they found their synchronicity. Moments passed and the pair separated from each other, each breathing heavily.

"I'm sorry, I-we shouldn't have done that," Caleb mumbled while he stepped backward and scooped his clothes up from Hanna's bed.

"You're right, I'm sorry... It was a mistake," She said as she put a hand to her forehead.

"I need to go, Lexie's probably waiting for me to pick her up." Caleb stuttered as he finished dressing.

He all but ran out of the house, leaving Hanna with the faint buzz of their moment together, and him with the high of her strawberry-flavored lipstick.

x-x-x

"Sooo, how was the party?" Lexie taunted her big brother.

"It was fine, how was Marlie's sleepover?"

"Um, a little boring. All we did was watch movies and talk about this boy in class that she likes."

Caleb laughed as he sat down on their couch, letting Lexie climb up next to him and lay her head in his lap.

He began to mindlessly play with her hair while the tv droned in the background, "Sounds interesting."

"Was Hanna at the party?"

"Yes, she was."

"Did you talk to her?"

"For a minute."

Lexie looked up at her big brother, "I can tell when you lie. You're lying. Your nose scrunches up."

"I talked to her, that's all."

Lexie gasped and sat straight up, "You didn't! There's more. What happened?"

"Nothing happened, we talked." He held his hands up in mock defense.

"I am your little sister, I have a right to know what happened. Besides, I'm probably the only one who you can actually tell so, it's me or no one."

The boy laughed, "Fine, fine. Hanna had a little too much to drink, so I took her home. Her parents weren't there so I stayed with her to make sure she was okay. And we studied a lot this morning, and we kissed, and I tried to make some food but it didn't turn out-"

"Wait wait wait, you guys KISSED?" She squealed, practically jumping onto Caleb.

"Yes, but she has a boyfriend and I have to respect that. So it won't happen again."

Lexie stopped smiling and gave Caleb a big hug, "I'm sorry. I like you better anyway."

"Thanks?" He laughed, realizing he should probably get dinner ready.

x-x-x

Late that night, Caleb's phone pinged with a new message from Hanna.

 _Hey... I think we should talk... -H_

 _About?_

 _You know... what happened earlier_

 _I won't tell anyone if that's what you're worried about_

 _Caleb please, it's more than that_

 _No, it's not. You have a boyfriend and you belong with him. It's simple._

 _Fine. Just don't tell anyone about it or whatever I said to you last night_

 _Do you even remember what you said last night?_

 _No, but I bet you do._

 _No._

Caleb lied. He couldn't forget what she had said. The things she told him. He thought back to the night before...:

 _"Hanna please, just sit down," Caleb pleaded with a happily tipsy Hanna who was currently dancing around her room._

 _"Fine," she yawned, "I'm tired anyways." She sat down on her bed and fumbled trying to lift her shirt off. "Help," she huffed._

 _Caleb laughed a little, "Where are your pajamas?"_

 _She pointed to a drawer in her closet. The boy grabbed a pair that didn't seem too revealing and helped her change. As he was helping her with her top, he noticed two scars, one running from one ribcage to the next, and the other was a line down her chest plate._

 _"How did you get those scars?" He asked as he continued to help her change._

" _Oh, I had an esophageal rupture," she said, slowly saying the words to make sure she could pronounce them correctly._

" _Eso-what?" The boy looked at her._

" _Hmm," she hummed, laying back on her bed, "Something broke because I kept throwing up to lose weight and I had to have surgery for it."_

 _He looked at her in disbelief. The most beautiful girl he had ever seen, had once done that to herself? He couldn't believe it._

 _Caleb's thoughts consumed him, and the next thing he knew, Hanna had pulled him down beside her._

" _Will you stay with me? I don't want to be alone..." she mumbled half asleep._

 _He put his arm lazily over her waist, "Of course."_

" _Ali was the one who made me do it. She and all her little friends... I could always hear what they were saying, that I was fat and ugly and I could never be like them. I wanted to prove them wrong," the girl yawned, stretching out on the bed._

" _They were wrong. You're beautiful," he said, protectively pulling her closer to him and tightening his hold as if to shield away her bad thoughts and memories._

 _Hanna hummed, "You're nice. You smell good. I like you. But shh, don't tell anyone, they can't know," she giggled to herself._

 _He half-smiled, still consumed in his thoughts about Ali, Hanna's pain, and the girl laying next to him._

He shook off the thoughts and feelings that came flooding back, returning his gaze to the small phone screen in front of him to see the 4 missed texts from Hanna.

 _Liar, you have to know what I said_

 _Caleb?_

 _Hello?_

 _When you're done doing whatever, we need to talk, I'm coming over tomorrow at 9 am._

He left her on read.

x-x-x

"Hey Lex, I need to go run a few errands, but I'll be back soon, okay?" He moved a few strands of the sleeping girls hair as he sat on the edge of her bed.

"M'kay," she muffled back.

He smiled and stood up, grabbed his keys, and walked out the door.

Ten minutes later he arrived at "The Rosary" one of the only legitimate clubs in Rosewood. He flashed his fake ID on the way in, and headed over to a booth in the back. Lighting a cigarette, his eyes dragged over the dance floor.

"You're late." A man said as he slipped into the bar.

"I'm here," he snapped back.

"Whatever. Do you have what I asked for?"

Caleb slid the man a package, "Its all in there."

The tall, lean man opened the envelope and inspected its contents, "Good." He exchanges with Caleb another envelope, this time filled with money.

"The next drop is next Friday. I'll send you the details."

"I'm not your drug mule. This was a one time thing, we're done."

The man laughed, then his voice dropped and his teeth grit, "We're not done until I say we're done."

Caleb took another drag from his cigarette, "No. I'm out, and you're going to respect that otherwise I'll give all the names of you and your little friends to the cops. Got it?" He stubbed the cigarette out on the table and looked at the man.

"Fine." He growled and walked away.

Caleb let a small cocky smirk creep onto his face. He stood up, showing the envelope into his pocket, and started to make his way out. As he walked out, he felt himself get pulled back into the dance floor by a pair of arms. He looked over to see a girl, looking similar to Hanna, pulling him close to her. He stopped for a minute at the thought, then gently shoved the girl away, downing a shot on his way out.

x-x-x

AN: Please read and review! I'll send a preview of the next chapter to whoever reviews with a logged account :)


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